in my opinion Agassi is the best pro player to study because he hits the ball so clean with zero wasted movement. everything he does before hitting the ball has the clear purpose to help him hit it harder and better.

In his day, Agassi hit the ball with more spin than most. But his backhand, as thejackal says, is about economy, and consistancy. But spin is consistancy, and Nadal's whole game is about spin. Nadal's backhand is more effective, and because of the spin, very consistant. But he has to work hard to get that spin. Much harder than Agassi, or most others. That's the trade off. Max effort for every shot, vs economy of effort and max effectiveness.

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Agassi's backhand is most efficient. Especially on return of serves too, his backhand's awesome.

Also keep in mind that Nadal's a natural righty and his backhand is significantly unorthodox because of the luxury of having an equally or stronger arm on the back side. Not many have this luxury. Agassi would be a more typical case as I doubt he had that advantage. Some things Nadal does on his backhand are just brute force.

Well it sorta depends on what you are looking for. Agassi and Nadal's backhands are, in a way, technically dissimilar. Agassi's backhand was similar to a one hander. His left (non-dominant) arm did most of the work. He really only used the right arm to bring the racket around at the last minute. Look for a transcript of his U.S. Open commentary last year. He talks about this.

Nadal, however, has a much more "active" right (non-dominant, because he is a lefty) arm. Venus Williams is a great example of someone who's non-dominant arm is really, really active. She's a righty... it's almost like she's hitting a left-handed forehand.

I suggest you figure out which style you find more comfortable and go from there. As to the question of "who has a better backhand" I'd have to go with Agassi. The combination of his incredible hand-eye coordination and flat(ish) ball made his backhand a formidable weapon. It penetrates the court more than Nadal's backhand. Further, as another poster mentioned, Agassi's backhand return is better than Nadal's. Also remember that, a few years ago, Nadal's backhand was considered somewhat of a weakness. Finally, you could make the argument -- based on the amount of spin on their respective backhands -- that Nadal has a better clay-court backhand while Agassi has a better every-other-surface backhand.

Well it sorta depends on what you are looking for. Agassi and Nadal's backhands are, in a way, technically dissimilar. Agassi's backhand was similar to a one hander. His left (non-dominant) arm did most of the work. He really only used the right arm to bring the racket around at the last minute. Look for a transcript of his U.S. Open commentary last year. He talks about this.

Nadal, however, has a much more "active" right (non-dominant, because he is a lefty) arm. Venus Williams is a great example of someone who's non-dominant arm is really, really active. She's a righty... it's almost like she's hitting a left-handed forehand.

I suggest you figure out which style you find more comfortable and go from there. As to the question of "who has a better backhand" I'd have to go with Agassi. The combination of his incredible hand-eye coordination and flat(ish) ball made his backhand a formidable weapon. It penetrates the court more than Nadal's backhand. Further, as another poster mentioned, Agassi's backhand return is better than Nadal's. Also remember that, a few years ago, Nadal's backhand was considered somewhat of a weakness. Finally, you could make the argument -- based on the amount of spin on their respective backhands -- that Nadal has a better clay-court backhand while Agassi has a better every-other-surface backhand.

Uh? If his left arm does all the work, it has nothing to do with a single-handed backhand...

People who have great backhand usually have a great left arm, like Agassi, like Nalbandian, like Davydenko.

in my opinion Agassi is the best pro player to study because he hits the ball so clean with zero wasted movement. everything he does before hitting the ball has the clear purpose to help him hit it harder and better.

There certainly is alot to learn from his preparation, movement to the ball, and recovery. One could certainly choose a worse player to emulate!

in my opinion Agassi is the best pro player to study because he hits the ball so clean with zero wasted movement. everything he does before hitting the ball has the clear purpose to help him hit it harder and better.

There certainly is alot to learn from his preparation, movement to the ball, and recovery. One could certainly choose a worse player to emulate!

I think of Agassi, Davydenko, Nalbandian, and Safin. All their backhands are quite "pure".

in my opinion Agassi is the best pro player to study because he hits the ball so clean with zero wasted movement. everything he does before hitting the ball has the clear purpose to help him hit it harder and better.

There certainly is alot to learn from his preparation, movement to the ball, and recovery. One could certainly choose a worse player to emulate!

I think of Agassi, Davydenko, Nalbandian, and Safin. All their backhands are quite "pure".